Business, charities unite for energy price campaign

ONE of Australia's major business lobby groups has joined with charities and a peak consumer group to campaign for lower power prices.

The Australian Industry Group, Brotherhood of St Lawrence, Choice and the Energy Efficiency Council have jointly commissioned a study into the factors that have driven power prices up more than 50 per cent in the past five years.

The report, prepared by Oakley Greenwood, finds that around a quarter of electricity costs are driven by "super peaks" - typically a few very hot or cold days when power consumption surges during peak periods.

The cost of extra infrastructure, both generation and transmission capacity, to deal with these peaks has pushed up power bills.

A key recommendation of the report, supported by the groups, is a proposal to enable consumers to sell demand response to the wholesale market during times of super peak demand.